Sustainable Development Goals - 17 Goals to Transform our World

Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

Indicator 4.2.1: Proportion of children under 5 years of age who are developmentally on track in health, learning and psychosocial well-being, by sex

Early math skills among US kindergarteners (typically age 5)

Sub-categories

Choose categories from the dropdowns below to see different breakdowns of the data. Some will not be available until a higher level is chosen.

Click on the legend to remove individual lines from the chart.

Download Headline CSV Download Source CSV

Headline data

This table provides metadata for the actual indicator available from US statistics closest to the corresponding global SDG indicator. Please note that even when the global SDG indicator is fully available from US statistics, this table should be consulted for information on national methodology and other US-specific metadata information.

Actual indicator available Approaches to learning, interpersonal skills, self-control, health mathematics, and reading performance of entering kindergarten students in the US (typically age 5),
Actual indicator available - description The approaches to learning scale is based on teachers' reports on how students rate in seven areas: attentiveness, task persistence, eagerness to learn, learning independence, ability to adapt easily to changes in routine, organization, and ability to follow classroom rules. Possible scores on the approaches to learning scale range from 1 to 4, with higher scores indicating that a child exhibits positive learning behaviors more often. The interpersonal skills scale is based on teachers' reports on the student’s skill in forming and maintaining friendships; getting along with people who are different; comforting or helping other children; expressing feelings, ideas, and opinions in positive ways; and showing sensitivity to the feelings of others. Possible scores on the interpersonal skills scale range from 1 to 4, with higher scores indicating that a child interacted with others in a positive way more often. The self-control scale is based on teachers' reports on the student’s ability to control behavior by respecting the property rights of others, controlling temper, accepting peer ideas for group activities, and responding appropriately to pressure from peers. Possible scores on the self-control scale range from 1 to 4, with higher scores indicating that a child exhibited behaviors indicative of self-control more often. Reading score reflects performance on questions measuring basic skills (print familiarity, letter recognition, beginning and ending sounds, rhyming words, and word recognition); vocabulary knowledge; and reading comprehension, including identifying information specifically stated in text (e.g., definitions, facts, and supporting details), making complex inferences from texts, and considering the text objectively and judging its appropriateness and quality. Possible scores for the reading assessment range from 0 to 120. Mathematics score reflects performance on questions on number sense, properties, and operations; measurement; geometry and spatial sense; data analysis, statistics, and probability (measured with a set of simple questions assessing children’s ability to read a graph); and prealgebra skills such as identification of patterns. Possible scores for the mathematics assessment range from 0 to 113. Socioeconomic status (SES) was measured by a composite score based on parental education and occupations and household income during the child’s kindergarten year. Variable name Variable label i4_2_1learnapp_total Mean approaches to learning score, total i4_2_1learnapp_male Mean approaches to learning score, male i4_2_1learnapp_female Mean approaches to learning score, female i4_2_1learnapp_lowses Mean approaches to learning score, low quintile socioeconomic status i4_2_1learnapp_midses Mean approaches to learning score, middle three quintiles socioeconomic status i4_2_1learnapp_highses Mean approaches to learning score, low quintile socioeconomic status i4_2_1interperson_total Mean interpersonal skills score, total i4_2_1interperson_male Mean interpersonal skills score, male i4_2_1interperson_female Mean interpersonal skills score, female i4_2_1interperson_indian i4_2_1interperson_lowses Mean interpersonal skills score, low quintile socioeconomic status i4_2_1interperson_midses Mean interpersonal skills score, middle three quintiles socioeconomic status i4_2_1interperson_highses Mean interpersonal skills score, low quintile socioeconomic status i4_2_1control_total Mean self-control score, total i4_2_1control_male Mean self-control score, male i4_2_1control_female Mean self-control score, female i4_2_1control_indian Mean self-control score, American Indian/Alaska Native i4_2_1control_lowses Mean self-control score, low quintile socioeconomic status i4_2_1control_midses Mean self-control score, middle three quintiles socioeconomic status i4_2_1control_highses Mean self-control score, low quintile socioeconomic status i4_2_1reading_total Mean reading score, total i4_2_1reading_male Mean reading score, male i4_2_1reading_female Mean reading score, female i4_2_1reading_indian Mean reading score, American Indian/Alaska Native i4_2_1reading_lowses Mean reading score, low quintile socioeconomic status i4_2_1reading_midses Mean reading score, middle three quintiles socioeconomic status i4_2_1reading_highses Mean reading score, low quintile socioeconomic status i4_2_1math_total Mean mathematics score, total i4_2_1math_male Mean mathematics score, male i4_2_1math_female Mean mathematics score, female i4_2_1math_indian Mean mathematics score, American Indian/Alaska Native i4_2_1math_midses Mean mathematics score, middle three quintiles socioeconomic status i4_2_1math_highses Mean mathematics score, low quintile socioeconomic status
Date of national source publication July 2012
Method of computation
Periodicity About every 10 years.
Scheduled update by national source
U.S. method of computation Scale scores as described in indicators description
Comments and limitations Standard errors appear on the web.
Date metadata updated October 2016
Disaggregation geography National and regions
Unit of measurement Measures described in indicator description
Disaggregation categories Sex, socioeconomic status. Other variables available on request.
International and national references http://nces.ed.gov/ecls/kindergarten2011.asp
Time period Fall 2010
Scheduled update by SDG team

This table provides information on metadata for SDG indicators as defined by the UN Statistical Commission. Complete global metadata is provided by the UN Statistics Division.

Indicator name Proportion of children under 5 years of age who are developmentally on track in health, learning and psychosocial well-being, by sex
Target name By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education.
Global indicator description From UNESCO:The percentage of children at the start of primary school, typically age 6 years in many countries, who demonstrate age-appropriate health, learning and psychosocial well-being and possess the necessary competencies and knowledge required for learning in the early primary grades. The age at which children start primary school varies across countries. This means that the indicator may broadly reflect children's development between about five and seven years of age.From UNICEF: This indicator provides the proportion of children under the age of five who are developmentally on track in health, learning and psychosocial well-being. It is calculated by dividing the number of children under the age of five who are developmentally on track in health, learning and psychosocial well-being by the total number of children under the age of five in the population.
UN designated tier 3 (with data)
UN custodial agency UNICEF (Partnering Agencies: UNESCO-UIS, OECD)
Link to UN metadata Link opens in a new window
Organisation U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010–11 (ECLS-K:2011)
Agency Staff Name Tom Snyder
Agency Survey Dataset U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010–11 (ECLS-K:2011)
Notes http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d15/tables/dt15_220.40.asp?current=yes and http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d15/tables/dt15_220.45.asp?current=yes
Title
Link to data source

sdg.data.gov

An official website of the Office of Management and Budget, the General Services Administration, and the US Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Looking for U.S. government information and services?
Visit USA.gov